#3

While I definitely do not recommend tearing ankle ligaments, it has been good for the knitting.

I saw these mittens in Grace Robinson in Freeport, Maine over the holidays, and given that they were knit with Julia yarn (from Nashua Knits, pattern by Kristin Nicholas), I knew right away who I needed to make them for. Julia.

I just did a big yarn storage reorganization over the weekend. What did I learn from this less-than-thrilling task? I seriously need to finish up some UFOs, I want to make more time (and space) for quilting/sewing, and I most definitely need to continue the yarn-buying diet well beyond February.

Pirate Mittens, Project # 1

These are the first official 2010 mittens. They are going to be a birthday present for my nephew Kalle, who turns six in the end of January. The yarn is Novita Seitsemän veljestä, the perfect mitten yarn, especially if you need to finish something in no time! The wooden needles are size 3.5 (European), and I bought them in Sweden last year. Like them, light and very silent!

Project Number Zero

This is my first post, but not the first offcial mitten project. See, I started these felted mittens already in November 2009, so officiallt they don´t count. They´re made of Novita Huopanen and the pattern was on the inside of the label. I had an old scane. The new ones don´t have the patterns any more. Not so practical!

Before felting the mittens were pretty big!

After felting they were the right size. Different person´s hand on the lower picture....

Inspirational Hats

I thought this blog from 2009 might be good inspiration for us - it's by an Icelander who made a hat a week for a whole year! The red and purple striped mittens were made to match a hat I made with red, purple, and orange Peace Fleece - the free Chevron hat pattern can be found here. For once, I made things for myself! They match a great scarf I got for Christmas 2008 from a friend.

Speaking of hats, our own Flikka is collecting hats for women going through chemo here in Vaasa. You can learn more about it on her blog. I think this is a good enough reason to break my yarn diet and purchase some less-scratchy (non-wool) yarn for a couple of hats!

Slacking

Thanks, H, for the invite to participate in this knitting/blogging event. However, you have successfully made me feel a bit like a slacker, as you've already completed two pair of mittens and we're not even out of January. *sigh*

In my defense, I have been finishing up Christmas and baby gifts left over from 2009. Today I finished the second to last of those projects - a bunny, for my friend's first baby. The pattern is from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Really simple, and completely adorable.



I also chose my first pattern for my first pair of mittens... it's a start, right?

On the Couch

Not for psychotherapy, but thanks to a bum ankle. The plus side is that it's a great excuse to knit! I finished my first two pairs of mittens, both from Robin Hansen's Favorite Mittens.

The first are the striped mittens, according to Hansen, a common pattern in Maine and Gotland. The yarn is from Peace Fleece, purchased at Purl Diva in Brunswick. They're a little large for me, and I might try to shrink them a little.

The second pair are thrummed/drummed/stuffed - very warm, but a little small for me. These went really quickly! The natural yarn is from Replot; I would use something a little thicker next time, but it was nice yarn to work with. The pencil roving is also Finnish.

The next pair I'd like to try from Hansen's book is the Rolled Mittens. I might even try to learn to knit 'American' for that project!

Two Mitten Books

Here are two inspiring books I got over the holidays. I've already started two pairs of mittens from the first one - photos to come soon!

First Post

My goal was to get the ball rolling here on the first of the year, but it's still January, right? As you can see from the mission in the sidebar, after knitting 9 pairs of socks in 2oo9 (pictured in the header above), two knitting-addicted neighbors have decided to aim for 10 pairs of mittens in 2010. We've also invited some friends (near and far) to join us this year and to blog about our progress.